Plane iron



1940. A. P. SCHOEFFLEFQ'V, 2,213,095

PLANE mow Filed Oct. 21; 19:57

Patented Aug. 27, 1940 PLANE IRON Application Dctober 21, 1937, Serial No. 170,180

1 Claim.

This invention relates to plane irons, and more particularly a plane iron with a detachable bit. A plane iron in the usual sense in which this term is used refers usually to the blade employed in the ordinary carpenters plane, or so-called bench plane.

In such devices the bit or cutting edge is usually integrally formed with the plane iron, that is to say, the latter extends downwardly in the plane below the lower surface thereof to contact with the wood to be treated, and has its lower end sharpened to act as the bit. This construction has some disadvantages in that the entire plane iron, which usually is of considerable extent, must be made from more or less expensive material and subjected to more or less expensive processes, so that it will take the required edge.

To obviate these disadvantages, plane irons have been made in the past with detachable bits, and the present invention relates particularly to this class of such devices.

One object of the present invention is to provide a plane iron, with a detachable bit, the iron and bit being provided with cooperating interengaging means whereby the bit may be readily detached when the iron is removed from the plane, but will be rigidly secured to the iron when the parts are in position in the stock of the plane.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a plane iron with a detachable bit, the parts being so formed that they may be detached and assembled without the use of any tools, and the bit will be secured firmly to the iron when the parts are in use.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a plane iron with a detachable bit, the iron and bit being provided with novel intereugaging means whereby the two elements may be readily and simply and rigidly secured together, andalso readily detachable when they are removed from the plane.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective View of a plane iron having a detachable bit assembled therewith;

Fig. 2 is a top elevational view of the plane iron and bit, the latter being in detached position;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevational View of the bit and the lower end of the plane iron showing the relation of the engaging portions of the parts;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4- 3 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional View on line 5--5 of Fig. 3.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention I have shown in Fig. l a plane iron in 5 of conventional shape provided with the usual slot it, with which is adapted to be employed the detachable bit i2. It will, of course, be understood that the iron it is somewhat shorter than would be the case if the cutting edge were formed directly upon this element, the length of the bit being added to that of the iron in the present case so that the two together will be of the desired length to be secured in the plane and extend below the lower surface thereof to contact with the work.

The lower end of the iron it is provided with a dove-tailed recess 63, and. likewise the upper edge of the detachable bit i2 is provided with a projecting complementally-shaped tenon M, which, as shown in Fig. 5, fits closely into the slot it when the tenon is superposed over the slot and moved therein.

As shown more especially in Figs. 2 and 3, the upper edge of the tenon it and the bottom of the slot l3 are recessed or cut away, as shown at l5 and iii, thus; providing a slot ll (Fig. 3) When the parts are in assembled position. These recesses provide contacting surfaces l8, i9, 26 and 29 on the iron and thetenon of the blade, respec- 30 tively. The spaced surfaces it and 28 on the bit will abut against the surfaces l8 and 28 on the iron, these surfaces being spaced apart by the slot l'l. It will also be noted, particularly from reference to Fig. 3, that the tenon M is somewhat longer than the depth of the slot it, so that the upper edges 22 and 23 of the bit will be spaced slightly from the lower edges E i and 25 of the iron when the parts are assembled together. This construction provides that the upper sur- 4.0 face of the bit has: a bearing against the lower edge of the iron only on the surfaces l8 and 29, thus providing a two-point bearing of relatively narrow width between the two parts.

It will be apparent that the bit may readily be attached to the iron by simply moving the tenon i linto a superposed position overlying the recess l3, and then pushing the tenon into the recess from this position. From reference to Fig. 5, it will be seen that the tenon is formed to fit closely against the side edges of the recess l3, and against the surfaces It and Zil, leaving the parts spaced, however, upon each side of the slot ii, and also upon each side of the tenon l4.

It will also be seen that the attachment and detachment of the bit to and from the iron may be made without the use of any tools.

The iron and bit disclosed are intended to be used with any ordinary plane, such, for example, as that shown in Patent No. 1,823,383, granted Sept. 15, 1931, although it will be understood that this reference is made merely by way of example. Most planes in use at the present time, like that shown in the patent referred to, comprise an iron holder or support upon which the iron lies, and. a so-called cap plate which lies upon the side of the iron opposite the holder, or above the iron, the latter being held firmly in position between these two members. It will be seen that, when the present iron with the detachable bit is placed in such a plane, the parts will be held against vertical displacement by the iron holder or support and the cap plate, so that when the parts are clamped between these two members, the tenon I5 cannot become detached from the dovetailed recess 13. The bit will, of course, be held against any lateral displacement or longitudinal displacement by the engagement of the dovetailed recess and tenons l3 and I l, so that in use the parts will function as though integrally secured together.

When the iron is detached from the plane, however, the bit may be removed for sharpening or for replacement, and this removal and replacement may be eifected without the use of any tools or any securing elements other than the integrally formed interengaging parts of the two elements themselves. Moreover, with the use of such a connection as is shown, the parts may be very accurately formed so that there will be no play or looseness between the bit and iron.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A plane iron and a detachable bit therefor, said iron and bit being of equal thickness and of substantially the same width whereby they may be assembled together to lie in the same plane and present continuous upper and lower faces, the iron having a dove-tailed recess opening through its lower end and the bit having a dove-tailed tenon projecting from its upper end to be received snugly in said recess, the end face of the tenon being recessed in its intermediate portion whereby it bears against the bottom of the recess adjacent its ends only, and said tenon being of greater length than the depth of said recess whereby the end face of the bit on each side of the tenon is spaced from the end of the iron, and the upper and lower faces of the iron and bit forming continuous planes respectively when the members are assembled together whereby they may be clamped against separation between the flat surfaces of overlying and underlying members.

ANDREW P. SCHOEFFLER. 

